By Brad Balfour
The Pond Theatre Company
Directors: Colleen Clinton and Lily Dorment
Cast: John Keating, Tim Ruddy, Sarah Street, and Michael Mellamphy
The production ran from September 7–23, 2018 at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street)
When I saw The Pond Theatre Company’s inaugural 2016 run of “Abigail’s Party,” I didn’t know for sure whether they were a flash in the pan. But after seeing the The Naturalists’ world premiere — written by Irish playwright Jaki McCarrick which had its run last month — it was clear they are to stay and thankfully so.
Given their mission to present U.S. premieres of British and Irish plays, The Pond faces a daunting process ahead. But if the recent production of the “The Naturalists” is any indication their ongoing success is likely.
Directed by Pond co-founders Colleen Clinton and Lily Dorment, the play featured four of New York’s Irish and Irish-American actors including John Keating, Tim Ruddy, Sarah Street, and Michael Mellamphy. This quartet have all been in recent productions displaying ample acting chops.
With the context of the Troubles providing an dramatic backdrop, the narrative seems to flow in one direction until disrupted but truly unexpected events. Brothers Francis and Billy Sloane are living an isolated existence disrupted by a young woman who has entered their lives tacitly to help tidy their place and give some order to their own emotional mess.
Though she doesn’t know it she has suddenly been thrown into a world of secrets and guilt which is eventually unsettled by the arrival of an old associate of the brothers.
Surprisingly, the day is saved in unexpected ways and the audiences gets to understand some unintended consequences of the Troubles. The only complaint I had at all was that some of the regional accents can be a bit daunting to American ears so I prefer when programs provide background to help a clueless local audience. And there proper background for this show so it was understandable.
Women-led and actor-founded, The Pond intends to further showcase more playwrights whose work may have been seen in the UK or Ireland but has had little opportunity to be produced here — until now. And given the pool of incredible talent from across the pond living here in NYC, they will have much to produce and present.